Osaka Evessa coach Ryan Blackwell, now in his second season at the helm, reflected on the impact and still-growing legacy of two-time All-Star MVP Lynn Washington, who collected the award for the second straight season on Sunday at Saitama Super Arena, and star guard Cohey Aoki in an interview this week.Blackwell said, "Cohey and Lynn are veterans and proven winners in this league. They've been around since the league first started and both have had a lot of success(All-Star and Final 4 appearances, MVPs, etc). Cohey is still searching for his championship but even without it he and Lynn are arguably the best import and Japanese players to ever play in this league and everyone recognizes that..."

The league has a number of former Tokyo Apache players making an impact elsewhere this season while the team is out of action. A review of the weekend:-Offseason pickup Masashi Joho scored 33 and 15 points as Toyama, a terrible team in its first five seasons in the league, improved to 4-4. In his Saturday outburst, Joho was 12-for-23 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range. He's averaging 15.1 points per game.-Five-time All-Star Cohey Aoki finished with team-high totals of 26 and 21 points as the Osaka Evessa won two road games against the Kyoto Hannaryz. He made 6 of 8 3s in the opener. He's averaging 13.8 ppg.-Jumpei Nakama scored 19- and seven-point outings as the Shimane Susanoo Magic earned a series split against a tough Shiga Lakestars squad. In the opener, Nakama was 6-for-10 from the field. He's averaging 7.6 ppg.-Veteran forward Shoji Nakanishi had nine-and 16 point efforts in Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix's two-game sweep of the Yokohama B-Corsairs. Nakanishi, was 3-for-6 on 3s in the series finale. He's averaging 10.4 ppg.-John "Helicopter" Humphrey had 27- and 40-point performances for the host Saitama Broncos in a pair of losses to the Ryukyu Golden Kings. He's averaging 19.8 ppg. -Darin Satoshi Maki had four points and three steals on Saturday for the Broncos and three assists on Sunday.-Reina Itakura had nine- and 12-point performances for the Chiba Jets in a weekend split against the Akita Northern Happinets, and three steals in Sunday's win. He's averaging 4.6 ppg. Teammates Tomoya Nakamura and Kensuke Tanaka also made some keys plays over the weekend for the Jets, who are 6-2 and tied for first place in the Eastern Conference.